


Resonance (Attenuation Redux)

by Savorysavery



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Post-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 04:27:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16110794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Savorysavery/pseuds/Savorysavery
Summary: Two years after her attempted rehabilitation in the Neo World Program, Tsumiki Mikan wakes up on the Jabberwock Island to find that Nanami Chiaki, a girl she thought was a program, has been realized into her all-too real world. An alternate look at the former Remnants of Despair with no connection to the canonical events of the DR3 Animation Sides Future and Despair.General Triggers: Borderline Personality Disorder, Depression, mentions of suicidal tendencies and attempts, mentions of bullying, mentions of emotional abuse, mentions of mental abuse, general discussions of trauma, discussions and mentions of previous sexual assault, PTSDUpdate Schedule: last Thursday of the month





	Resonance (Attenuation Redux)

**Author's Note:**

> This piece has a happy end, but there’s a lot to go through to get there because healing is almost always a messy process. Because of that, each chapter will have a list of triggers found within the chapter. 
> 
> I will say, however, that other than canonical deaths, you will find no Bury Your Gays in this piece. Every queer person who was canonically alive in Danganronpa and Danganronpa 2 -queer or otherwise- survives to the end: after all, this is a story about growing from past trauma and finding your light again.

**Trigger warnings:** detailed descriptions of death via asphyxiation, mentions of manipulative relationships, general death mention, torture

 

* * *

 

 

The sky is so quiet once you leave Earth’s clanging atmosphere.

Up here, on an open air rocket, Tsumiki Mikan finds that sound dims the higher you go, fading to a whistle in her ears that gets thinner with every meter that she jets upwards. The air crisps, the clouds part, and the stars –eons away– draw into perfect resolution. Hundreds of specks turn from their dimmed, diluted brilliance down Below to sharp, white-hot pinpricks that make her squint.

It’s hard to breath this far out, hard to remind herself to inhale and exhale, steady four in, four out. Mikan has to hum it to herself, _tries_ to hum it to herself, but her voice is reed thin, a whisper as she rockets towards the moon.

But then something **magic** happens: more clouds part to reveal rays of light, butter warm and shimmering. When she blinks, all of the air returns, and Mikan inhales the scent of a warm day on the beach, undercut by hair spray and nail polish remover.

Then _She_ comes.

A hand, then a wrist: then a long, pale forearm leading up, up, up with a rolled, white cuff and a black cardigan. It doesn’t need to come any further for Tsumiki Mikan to know who it is: it’s her Beloved, her Treasure. The woman who set her life right. It’s _her_ Hope, and often _her_ Despair: the sole entity in a world of chaos that found worth in her meager existence.

Mikan reaches out, dares to let gravity yank her from the rocket. She probably doesn’t have long: she may not be strictly focused in the sciences, but she knows well enough that exposure, even on the edges of the great maw of space, will kill her in under a minute.

Both her arms are up, hands splayed and reaching. The light seems to increase, responding to her eagerness.

**Enoshima-sama. Oh, my Beloved Enoshima-sama.**

_Let’s start the next round of injections._

 

**Enoshima-san! Junko, Junko!**

_Cold sweat. Sheets stick to your back._

 

Junko’s hand juts forth, and halts the rocket. It stills, like a toy turned off.

 

**Junko.**

_Muddled dreams. Not dreams._

_Head spinning, heart reeling._

_Her heartrate is increasing. Starting prep for the final round, u-pu-pu!_

Junko’s nails caress Mikan’s cheek. It’s so warm and comforting she can hardly stand it.

 

**Beloved.**

_A pinch, a spasm. Fireworks before your eyes._

_Blink and the world goes dark for a while._

 

Junko’s hand closes about her neck, forcing her chin up.

 

**I’m coming to you.**

_Final round, please! Really give it to her!_

 

Without mercy, she squeezes tighter. Mikan's vision turns to a slip of sight, and now she's so high, so far out that the light's so bright it burns.

**Let me take your hand.**

_It’s the grand finale. Nerves tingle, body on fire._

_Throat closing._

_Her heartbeat’s dropping. Excellent!_

Junko's red nails leave half-moons as Mikan's blood spills out. It smells like candy, like rubbing alcohol mixed with too cold air, and if she could, she'd laugh and cry and start laughing all again for some reason.

****

**Don’t let me go.**

_Blackness at the edges._

**Junko!**

Mikan manages a cough, but that only makes Junko squeeze harder. She jerks off the rocket and slams back down, dizzy from the frenzy of stimulation. 

**Don’t let me go!**

_How long can you live without air?_

There's nothing to breath out here: nothing but blackness and the near Absolute Zero of space. In the far flung distance, she sees the sun, but there's no warmth: there's just Mikan's absolution, resonating from her belly as she fells her body seize.

 

There's a bitter taste on the back of her tongue now, and wen she blinks, another places comes in at the edges of her vision: a white room, metal machines, a pulse monitor with a nearly flat line that hccups with heartbeats.

 

_How long can you live without air?_

**My heart My savior My beloved beloved _please_ , don’t let me-**

_Not very long, it turns out._

 

_Great job everyone! Let’s make this a wrap and get the next kid to murder, u-pu-pu!_

 

* * *

 

...

...

...

 

_struct group_info init_groups = { .usage = ATOMIC_INIT(2) };_

_struct group_info *groups_alloc(int gidsetsize){_

_struct group_info *group_info;_

_int nblocks;_

_int i;_

_Command: Initiate AltEgo_v3_derivative_Gamer_

            _ChangeCommand: AltEgo_v3_derivative_Caretaker_Counselor_Mode_

 

_nblocks = (gidsetsize + NGROUPS_PER_BLOCK - 1) / NGROUPS_PER_BLOCK;_

_Command: Initiate Download into External Structure_

_nblocks = nblocks ? : 1;_

_group_info = kmalloc(sizeof(*group_info) + nblocks*sizeof(gid_t *), GFP_USER);_

_if (!group_info)_

_return VALID; Download complete. Upload file “NaChi” initiated._

_group_info- >ngroups = gidsetsize;_

_group_info- >nblocks = nblocks;_

_atomic_set( &group_info->usage, 1);_

_if (gidsetsize <= NGROUPS_SMALL)_

_ </ul>_

_Return group_info file/RemnantsofDespair_

_alloc: SimMemNaChi_

_Stabilizing System._

_End source._

_System restarting in 15 seconds…_

_…System rebooting. Initiating reboot of “AlterEgo3.exe”. All systems online. Patient entering an aware state…_

_…System restart successful. Initiating <Friend> derivative and scanning memories. _

_....System scan successful. Booting now._

 

 

**...**

**...**

**...**

 

_...Hello?_

Hello?

 

_Ah, so you really **are** here. How wonderful!_

Here?

 

_I have been assigned to you from the moment you wake up, Tsumiki Mikan. Isn’t that great?_

Who are you?

 

_I’m your friend. Hopefully._

My… friend?

 

_It’s up to you, Tsumiki-san. This a second chance. You can do anything now._

Can I **change-**

 

_Sorry, I’m going to stop that thought there. You can **do now** , but we can never **change** the past. Plus, there’s currently no active Ultimates associated with Time.... Sorry, I shouldn't have laughed. Geez, I've never been good at being serious. Nice to see there's  **something of me** left._

So… I can’t **change** anything.

 

_No, but you can **make** your future, Tsumiki-san. That’s just as good, isn't it?_

…

 

_Isn't it, Tsumiki-san?_

_..._

 

**Is it?**

 

_...Hello?_

 

_...Hello, Tsumiki-san?_

 

_...Tsumiki-san?_

…Yes?

 

 

**_Would you like to wake up?_ **

**Author's Note:**

> The next update will be on October 25, 2018 with Chapter One "Waking Women".
> 
> In the mean time, I'd love to see your impressions on this redux of Attenuation, if you've read it. This will follow some similar beats, but I've ultimately already planned out everything to the end more so than I did with the original story. I hope you'll find this new endeavour worth being redone.
> 
> Thank you for reading this prologue: I can't wait to show you all what I have in store!


End file.
